Moreno on Florida’s mind

It should come as no surprise that Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno has been a predominant subject of discussion in Florida’s camp this week. And that’s not because he was just named SEC offensive player of the week on Monday.

Rather notably, Moreno rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 42-30 win over Florida last year in Jacksonville. Never mind the first-quarter end-zone celebration by Georgia, he was the primary reason the Dogs won the football game.

And he’s a big reason they’re winning again this year. Moreno enters Saturday’s game as the second-leading scorer and rusher in the SEC at 9 points and 115 yards a game, respectively. The 5-11, 207-pound sophomore is coming off a 163-yard, one-TD effort against LSU, which resulted in his second consecutive SEC weekly offensive award and third overall this season.

In Georgia’s 52-38 win at No. 11 LSU, Moreno had a 68-yard TD run (his second-longest of the season) and another 47-yard carry. He now has 925 yards rushing for the season and has moved up to eighth on the Bulldogs’ career rushing list, with 2,259 yards.

Two days of videotape-watching of Moreno left Florida’s coaches gushing about how well Moreno is playing.

“You got to watch [tape] for about four hours before you see one man take him down,” Dan McCarney, assistant head coach/defensive line, said.

Said head coach Urban Meyer: “His ability to break tackles, his will and desire. He’s got very good speed. I won’t say he’s like our guy [Jeff] Demps but his ability to break tackles and set up runs is very good.”

Moreno, Meyer said, has actually made Georgia’s young offensive line look better than it is. “And I think he’s made the quarterback [look better], made the receivers [look better]. It’s that whole balance.”

Meyer was asked if Moreno was the best back in the SEC. “I haven’t seen them all,” he said. “The [Charles] Scott guy from LSU we thought was pretty good. I’d have to give the edge to Knowshon.”

Georgia coach Mark Richt has been fielding a lot of questions about Moreno this week from Florida media.

He finished a long response Sunday night with this conclusion: “He’s got spin moves, he can jump over people, he’s got pretty good game speed. He likes to finish his runs with power. He’s a pretty special back. I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Dogs double dip

Moreno wasn’t the only Bulldog honored by the SEC on Monday. Linebacker Darryl Gamble was named defensive player of the week.

It’s the first time since 1994, when Alabama double-dipped with running back Sherman Williams and cornerback Dameian Jeffries, that players from the same team took both the offensive and defensive award.

Gamble, a 6-2, 237-pound sophomore from Bainbridge, tied an NCAA, SEC and Georgia record by returning two interceptions for touchdowns against the Tigers. He had 93 return yards in the game. Gamble was filling in at middle linebacker for the second straight week for injured starter Dannell Ellerbe.

Jeff Demps of Florida hauled in the special teams player of the week honor. The 5-foot-8, 176-pound freshman had a blocked punt and returned it 27 yards in 63-5 win. He also led the Gators in rushing (7-50) and receiving (4-67, TD).

Secondary thoughts

Georgia made personnel moves in the secondary last week to try to tighten up the pass defense. It didn’t seem to help much against LSU.

The Tigers rolled up 497 total yards, including 309 passing, or 62 percent of its offense. The Bulldogs sank to 11th in the SEC (221 ypg) against the pass.

Nonetheless, Richt thought the unit showed improvement as sophomore Vance Cuff moved ahead of junior Bryan Evans as the weak side cornerback in the nickel package. Freshman Brandon Boykin also got more work there. Meanwhile, Evans got most of his snaps in the game at safety.

“They both held up pretty good,” Richt said of the corners. “I thought Bryan did a very fine job [at safety]. We’re just trying to let our young guys get some opps as they improve and also create as much depth as we can.”

‘Thump-thump’

With three blocked kicks — two punts, one field goal attempt — against Kentucky last Saturday, Florida has five blocks this season, which already surpasses last year’s total of four. But rushing kickers has become a staple for Urban Meyer-coached teams. The 2006 national championship team blocked eight kicks.

Since Meyer first became a head coach at Bowling Green in 2001, his teams have blocked 42 kicks, third nationally to Texas (49) and Fresno State (42). The coach has even memorized the sound track of the kick well blocked.

“There’s no worse sound than that ‘thump-thump’ ” he said. “If you’re in that other stadium, wow. It’s hard to equate another play as significant as a blocked punt, in our mind.”

More refreshed dogs

Richt proclaimed a success the travel changes the Bulldogs’ employed after the LSU game.

The Bulldogs flew directly into Athens-Ben Epps Airport on three separate, smaller planes rather than chartering into Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta and taking a bus back to Athens. He figures it saved them 2.5 to 4 hours.

“We got in pretty close to 10:30 or 11 [p.m.],” Richt said. “The other way it probably would have been more like 1 or 2 in the morning. Being able to land directly in Athens was huge for our coaches and players. It was great.”

Etc…

Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford was named one of 13 semifinalists for the 2008 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award on Monday. The 6-3, 228-pound junior from Dallas, Texas, has completed 141 of 229 passes this year for 1,946 yards and 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The 13 semifinalists will be narrowed to three finalists on Nov. 24. Fans are able to vote for the candidates once daily at VoteOBrien.org.